Here are the main players in a version of what I like to call Immunity Stew. Whenever I am feeling low or maybe a cold trying to take hold i make a soup/stew with lots of veggies and usually some seaweed. The strange looking skinny brown root is burdock, bought in the produce department. I lightly peeled it before chopping it up. The tiny seeds of amaranth are in the wooden bowl. Not familiar with amaranth ? Neither am I ! But I want to learn more about it and cook with it more amaranth is considered a 'super grain' ,along with quinoa...another South American native. This stew is being made for a sweet strong friend who is undergoing a total knee replacement surgery. I hope to get it over to her today, and maybe the stew can help her bounce back to her "old" self :) The stars of this stew are: Amaranth...about 1/4 cup Burdock root...about 12" long Carrots Celery Zucchini Swisschard Garlic Not-Chikn buillion Cube Thyme Bay leaf They were all tossed together and are gently simmering for about 40 minutes, adding the swisschard at the last 5 minutes. The amaranth will thicken the soup into a nice stew. White rice would be a good sub.